What Was Lost, & What's Always Been There
by PhoenixNinja101
Summary: "Tell me, Shintarou, when Tetsuya first entered the first string, have you ever doubted him?" Taken aback by the sudden question, Midorima moved to reply, ready to defend himself that despite Kuroko's strange way of playing, that he respected his skills in basketball nevertheless, but stopped himself from spluttering because had he?


**Me: IDK about you guys but apparently, monochromatic eyes are when one eye has a different color from the other, and dichromatic eyes are when one eye has two colors but similar to the other. Also, do follow me on Twitter, username PhoenixNinja101 for more updates. Anyway, on with the story!**

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**Normal POV!**

Midorima sat on the bench situated at the side of the public basketball court as he watched the spectacle in front of him, his lucky item perched neatly on his left. He would rub his taped fingers occasionally out of habit, but his whole attention was otherwise focused on the exchange between his friends; namely, the Generation of Miracles.

In the middle of the court was Aomine Daiki, lazily spinning a basketball on the tip of his finger as he taunted his opponent with a bored expression on his face. Behind him, Kise was stifling his laughter at the insults the bluenette was throwing carelessly, not quite involved but not innocent either. On the opposite side was Akashi, monochromatic eyes observing the interaction with an amused expression on his face, arms crossed as if knowing the game of two-on-two won't be resuming for a while. Meanwhile, in front of him stood Murasakibara, a frown etched on his face as his eyes narrowed when Aomine's insults became more and more increasingly annoying. Momoi, who stood in the middle of it all, rolled her eyes as she scolded her childhood friend lightheartedly, and instead with a soft look as if used to dealing with such antics, and knowing her, she probably was. Lastly, standing idly behind her was one Kuroko Tetsuya.

Kuroko, who they hadn't seen since their last championship game in middle school.

In hindsight, Midorima should probably have seen it coming. With all the things that's happened ever since they began to bloom, he shouldn't be surprised that the teal-haired man didn't show up until their second year of high school. It was a stressful time for all of them. With Aomine's sudden aggression and loss of passion in basketball, the basketball club's team dynamics were in chaos. It was bad enough that the first string members were a group of prodigies lumped together with personalities that clashed, and the change in attitude of their ace only made things worse. With Nijimura leaving the team and coach Shirogane's passing, there was nobody to keep the players in line, and even Akashi, who had been grieving from his mother's recent death, couldn't keep the team from falling apart. When the pressure became too much even for the newly appointed red-haired captain, things went South from there. And it was probably Murasakibara's fault, challenging the redhead like that.

Then the championship game happened.

Midorima didn't know anything about what happened in their last match, but it seemed to have been the cause of Kuroko's sudden repulsion to basketball. He vaguely recalled seeing Kuroko's horrified face when they won 111-11 against Meiko, but the cheers around the stadium made it hard to focus. That was the last he saw of the teen, and the next day there was a resignation letter delivered to their new coach, Sanada.

As Midorima grabbed the frog plushie on his left, he thought of why it had come as a surprise when they hadn't heard from their phantom player during their first year of high school. True, Kuroko may not have shown up when they made their oath, of promising to attend different schools to one day face each other on opposite sides of the court, but Midorima had assumed that being part of the team meant Kuroko was included in the whole ordeal. It seemed he guessed wrong, because the next they saw of the phantom player was after Rakuzan had taken both the Inter High and the Winter Cup by a storm.

No one had known what school Kuroko had attended, even Akashi didn't, though he had some speculations. Even Kise, who had visited the school beforehand, hadn't reported anything about said teen. But then in their second year, they met Kuroko again.

The meeting could've gone better, really. Despite having a falling out on basketball, the Miracles remained friends outside the court, if not a little distant. Even if Kuroko had quit basketball, it was his choice, and the others would surely respect that, though they may be a little bitter about it. What changed, however, was that Kuroko showed up _with Kise_.

Kise who, by some surprising turn of events, hadn't informed them of Kuroko's whereabouts when they met at the start of the school year. According to the blond model, Kise met Kuroko again when he first went to visit Seirin before their practice match, where he assumed Kuroko attended as it was mentioned by the tealnette in passing. Midorima knew of them; they had come close to winning against his school in the Inter High, but they ran short in the end. They later found out that Kuroko did, in fact, attend Seirin High, a newly formed school with strong, determined basketball players in their club, but never applied for basketball. Instead, Kuroko was found in the library committee, as Kise told.

What bothered Midorima from the whole thing had been why Kise never told them he knew where Kuroko was from the start. If Kuroko wished to not be found, Midorima would've respected that. Except Kuroko made no such request, and Kise had hidden that fact on his own. So when the two showed up to them one day, together, with Kise announcing their relationship, well, it suddenly made everything clearer.

Shifting against the bench, Midorima leaned forward to get a better view as Aomine and Kise began a heated one on one, catching Murasakibara leaving the court to buy some snacks (probably), grumbling all the while from the corner of his eyes. Momoi had already began the tip-off, and Kuroko had walked away to the other side of the court so as to not interfere with their game. As the green-eyed teen made this observation, he wondered how high his specs had to be for him to only notice the glances Kise would share with Kuroko now.

He watched as Kise would turn Kuroko's way every now and then, how they'd smile at each other when they think nobody was looking, and how Kuroko would look at Kise with fondness in his usually blank eyes. Gripping his lucky item for the day, which was a hand puppet, Midorima wondered how he had not noticed these signs before.

"Curious, are we?"

Startling from his thoughts, Midorima looked up to see Akashi had moved from his spot on the court to standing beside the bench he was occupying. Even without looking at him, Midorima knew Akashi was referring to the two subjects of his thoughts.

"Yes." he said, leaving no further elaboration. Seeing as Akashi wasn't going to continue, he looked to where the redhead had been looking at with his arms crossed. His gaze led him to Aomine and Kise, who by now had been neck to neck in their scores. Watching the serious gazes the two were sharing, Midorima didn't have the time to think before he felt the words slipping from his mouth. "Why Kise?".

Yes, why Kise? Why not Aomine? It had been the question running through everyone's mind the moment they had heard of the news, but was never asked. If it had been Aomine, there would be no questions asked, for they all knew the close relationship the two blunettes had shared in their middle school years. And Kise who, for all his exclamation of adoration towards his appointed mentor, could only show a deep amount of respect, had nothing compared to their partnership.

When Akashi didn't reply, Midorima didn't have to look at him again to know he was staring distantly at the game, eyes focused but seemingly deep in thought. After a beat of silence, when Midorima thought his question would be left unanswered, the redhead opened his mouth to reply.

"Tell me, Shintarou, when Tetsuya first entered the first string, have you ever doubted him?"

Taken aback by the sudden question, Midorima moved to reply, ready to defend himself that despite Kuroko's strange way of playing, that he respected his skills in basketball nevertheless, but stopped himself from spluttering because _had_ he?

Sensing Midorima's internal conflict, Akashi looked at the greenette from the corner of his eye as he spoke, almost coldly in response. "Don't deny it, Shintarou. At one point, we all doubted Tetsuya's place in the regulars during our third year. Only, Murasakibara is more forthcoming than us. No matter how much we tell him we respect his ability, his position, deep down we all wondered if he can still keep up with the rest of us."

Not having anything to say, with shame pooling at the pit of his stomach, Midorima let Akashi continue. "Even Daiki, who had supported Tetsuya long before he even joined us, had stopped believing in him."

Midorima looked down, silent as he let his mind digest the things his former captain was telling him. Akashi was right, as always. When the tealnette was still in the third string, Aomine had stayed late everyday to practice with him, telling him he could make the first string if he practiced hard enough, even when all hope seemed to be lost. Yet, when Aomine bloomed in their third year, he stopped passing, stopped returning their signature fistbumps, and stopped caring. For anyone who had a bond similar to the one Kuroko and Aomine shared, being left behind by your partner was the worst thing you could ever go through.

"And Tetsuya, who had always looked up to Daiki, for him to be suddenly left behind, had to bear the brunt of Daiki's abandonment." Akashi finished, eyes gazing softly at Kuroko as he cheered for both the blond and his former light. "For Tetsuya to lose sight of the person he's been chasing all this time, that must be what ended basketball for him."

Not Shigehiro. Because even if Shigehiro quit basketball, Tetsuya would stay for Daiki if he wanted.

"Ryouta, on the other hand, had always been there by his side." Akashi broke his straying thoughts of the phantom to turn to the greenette who had been silent from their conversation. "Even when Tetsuya never looked his way, even when he was busy chasing after another person, even when he quit basketball, Ryouta stayed."

It was said so firmly, and if Midorima listened closely, he would've heard the slightly bitter tone the redhead was using, regret reflecting in his eyes as he spoke.

"So when Tetsuya finally stopped his fixation on Daiki, he finally noticed the one thing that never abandoned him, the one person who never left." Akashi finished, gaze shifting back to the duo on the court. "And that is Ryouta."

_Not me._

Midorima's eyes widened as he turned to look at Akashi, who was in the process of returning to the court seeing as the game of one on one had finished. "Wait, Akashi!" he reached a hand out as Akashi stopped in his tracks, turning his head to show he was listening but not quite looking at the bespectacled teen. "Did you know?"

_Did you know this would happen? Did you know Kuroko would quit basketball? Did you know that he and Kise would..._

"... no."

With that one word, Akashi left Midorima to himself as he nodded to Murasakibara as they prepared to start another game of two on two. He didn't need to look back to know Midorima had figured him out. Ignoring the slight aching in his chest, Akashi forced a smile on his face as he watched Kise wrap an arm around Kuroko, inviting him to play basketball with them. Kuroko had suffered a lot in their middle school. Being happy with Kise, he deserved that at least.

It was his loss, and the team's too. And Kise was lucky to have someone like Kuroko.

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**Me: I don't know what happened and it wasn't supposed to end like this. But let's just deal with it 'cuz I have a few homeworks I need to finish. Anyway, vote, favorite, and leave a kudos if you liked. Add a comment and a review too if you have time, and don't forget to follow me, I am the one and only, _PhoenixNinja101_ signing out!**

**~~~CHAO!~~~**


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